The Foreign Office (FO) of Pakistan addressed recent speculations concerning a “high-level visit” from Saudi Arabia, emphasizing that no official announcement has been made in this regard.
FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch clarified during her weekly press briefing, stating that details would be disclosed once both parties reached a decision.
“There has been no announcement from our side and we have not shared any details of any high-level visit from Saudi Arabia. When such a visit takes place and we have confirmed information and both sides agree to announce the visit we will make an announcement at the time,”
This development comes in the wake of previous scheduling and subsequent postponement of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s visit to Pakistan in November of the previous year. Since then, no rescheduled visit has materialized.
The last visit of the Saudi crown prince to Pakistan took place in February 2019, during the term of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
In a related development, a briefing session on the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) was conducted for resident diplomatic missions in Islamabad.
The Foreign Secretary, along with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Government Effectiveness Dr. Jehanzeb Khan, presented details about the Council, highlighting investment opportunities in Pakistan in four key sectors: information technology, agriculture, energy, and mining.
Diplomatic missions were encouraged to inform their respective countries about the prospects of investing in Pakistan.
The SIFC, recently established by the Government of Pakistan, serves as a “One-Window” platform to expedite decision-making and facilitate foreign direct investment in the country.
Senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also attended the briefing session.
